The Demons We Face
by Tigressa101
Summary: Everything's gone, destroyed, eliminated. One can only wonder how someone could carry on when they have nothing left. But the question should be, can you?


_In the beginning, there was a techno-organic King and this King ruled over all on Kanjis except his twelve children and adored mate. He was loved by all as well but was questioned every time he decided to create a new world to his liking. This question never bothered anybody truly, just sparked a few interests here and there._

 _One day, the eldest child and daughter came forward with a new proposal, to create a race of creatures bred from a malicious substance called Dark Eco. She thought they would be a new weapon against any who opposed her father, but her sire didn't agree. Dark Eco was an unconcentrated force with dangerous elements to its structure, and with this, he refused._

 _Outraged, she decided to go forth with her plan without the King's approval and created new life of her own. But she underestimated the influence of the Dark Eco and soon fell corrupted to it. That made her snap. A wave of destruction and monstrosity followed, transforming others into abominations as well. The eldest daughter was lost in madness and Kanjis was eventually driven into an endless war where the King and the Elite versed the Metal Heads and their new brethren of the Corrupted Kanjians._

 _Everything was obliterated, never to be the same again._

* * *

 _2086_

The war was still flowing in the Northern parts of Kanjis, but the blue blood of opponents ran quicker down the rocks and plants surrounding the city than ever before. Bodies littered the grasslands and the nearby shore, still and corroded. Dead techno-organics who either stayed or once were in their animal mode seemed out of their usual environment. Sea dwellers lay among dirt and rock structures protruding from the planet's surface. Airborne fliers with ravishing designs across their wings eternally rest head first in various areas; their horizontal appendages broken alongside revealed endoskeletons.

One black and red-striped techno-organic dragon sat between two green and grey bodies, holding them close to himself in antagonizing guilt. He attempted to rub one's left temple but left a small cut from his claws instead. A blue drop formed from this mark and slid down the deceased's eye before swiftly gliding down her cheek. His sister's now muddy, dull-grey cheek.

It was his fault, he admitted that much. A simple mistake cost him the last remaining members of his family. All except one. Rage bubbled within his processor; his spark flickering a dark red at the mere thought of her. In his pride and selfishness, he had opened a pathway for her to strike down anybody that got in her way, also leaving their...no, his siblings unguarded from her wrath. And he paid for it.

Carefully, he set down both his sisters' helms to the ground, much to his bitter disgust, and walked away, striding past some he had killed and others he had defended for the wrong reasons. Among all the bodies of the fallen, no one heard him cry.

* * *

All she wanted was to show King Kronos that playing God had a price, but something had "gone terribly wrong", as some humans had put it. She would admit power was intoxicating but did she comprehend it? Did she know what she was doing or what she had truly done?

On the tallest skyscraper she rested, waited as she watched over the fields of bodies glowing blue on the outskirts of the toppled city. Yes, her handiwork alright. But despite not being able to see anybody left fighting, she knew another battle was hers to claim. The Metal Heads within the city streets below scoured happily as she basked in their brutality.

Suddenly, a scream sounded throughout the city's ruptured buildings drawing attention to the Western end of the savanna. Their destroyer awoke with red and gold pits for eyes and barely noticeable slit pupils staring towards the direction of the field's unusual echo. She knew that voice; she knew that cry. It was time to end the last blockade of her plan.

Black, jagged spikes on her spine rose as panels on her shoulder blades opened to eject two massive wings. Hesitantly, she roared back at the scream, stretching the appendages wide before jumping to a dive off the flaming tower. They caught air and quickly she flew to the field once more for one last battle.

* * *

Taloned feet grasped the dirt unsteadily as they missed puddles of blood by mere inches. A few moments after he had screamed his lungs out, a response came forth unfortunately. His sister was coming back over with a vengeance as the rule she had enforced was severed by him. The rule, of course, being to kill all and kill yourself once the damage was done since she needed no survivors from any faction except her abominations. If she wanted one last fight, she'd get it! He swore to not hesitate when given the chance to end her.

His untrained red eyes glanced down at a few more bodies, noticing how some looked as if they died peacefully while some were obvious they had suffered. One of them, he stared at with a surprisingly feral laugh. There lie the infamous Captain Ceros Silos, a traitor to his own species of Rozarians and the co-leader of the Metal Head army. The guy deserved more than death but there he was, grounded by gun blast it seemed.

The echo of wings beating the thick air alerted him, forcing the tear-stained miserable techno-organic turn to face the monster that was. As she landed in front of him, he couldn't help but crack a smile despite his head-splitting migraine pounding through his processor at the sight of his sister. Wings spread to their maximum capacity in horrific glory, blood spatter and all, blocking any rays emitting from the two suns lying on the horizon behind her. Only her shadow loomed over him with any emotion at all. Fearlessly, he stared into her optics, subduing a growl building within his throat.

"Hello, Brother, still alive? Still as weak as ever I see. But no matter, no matter at all. So, do you like our handiwork here? What we've created together...and destroyed?" She gestured, her hand streaming across the vision that was their horror.

"I only saw the flaws of the battle, the downside of ever joining you and those abominable creatures! And now I see the monstrosity that is betrayal and the evidence of my sins."

His sister grinded her teeth together in slight annoyance but nevertheless kept a formal stature, though her voice strained otherwise. "I give you a new beginning, yet you shun it?"

"What future involves nothing but agony, nothing but fear and the state of chaos!? This is nothing; we have nothing all because of you!"

Her dark red-yellow eyes glittered with poison, "And you are just as guilty as I, Demon. This world and these lives are mine, and you helped harvest them. You are your own sin, dear Brother."

Demon glared at her, slit pupils dilating. No words could be mimicked by a false tongue to describe his thoughts.

"And to think, our own father believed you were Kanjis' future, it's protector. Foolish indeed…"

Something rigid in his mind, on edge for weeks now, snapped. Eyes stressed wide were drawn to the back of his former sister in a predatory manner. Teeth bared, gaping for something to grab ahold of and tear apart.

"Of course, we could make it so you can thank him for that…"

Demon quickly saw her blade emerge and swing towards him, ducking automatically in response. With that, he charged. Fangs latched onto her arm, forcing her to drop her weapon as he released and soon, both had claws sinking into each other's protoform. Savagely, both aimed for the neck, for the base of the spine (when grasped) immobilized the other.

They backed off for a few seconds figuring out a new tactic to approach the other with while examining their recent wounds. Demon roared at his sister, jaws straining wide and teeth covered in blue blood. In response, his sibling did the same but the line that cut across both her cheeks opened to reveal several more fangs awaiting their duty. Now things were about to get a lot harder than before.

Fuming steam from slit nostrils, his sister lunged forward. This time she struck first, targeting the neck of her opponent. Instead, she caught his shoulder, tearing several pieces of armor and muscle from their housing. To keep dominance over her victim while he recovered from the surprise attack, she lifted her right leg in momentum to swing her massive tail around and knock him across part of the field at a high speed. This alone drained the wind out of his lungs and forced him to stay lying on his back from the immense pain.

Demon coughed up his own blood as he heard his sister's massive footsteps stomping towards him with that dark-toned bellow of hers vocalizing in unison.

She was supreme on the battlefield; he knew versing her was suicide and yet as she approached, he couldn't help but wonder why he did what he did when he snapped. Was it for his other ten sisters and brothers? Was it simply because the pain became too much? Everything was a blur now, even his own mind.

He lay back on the rugged ditch he had created when his sister's tail threw him across the battlefield. In a matter of a minute or as long as his sister took to come to him from afar, he will be dead. It was inevitable. So much for heroically stopping her.

His consciousness seemed to dwindle between black and white as his optics attempted to stay open. Was this the end? Of course it was…

* * *

 **Demon...**

That voice...not his mother's nor his father's...but a combination of sorts. But it did not sound like any voice or voices he recognized.

 **Why do you lie here when you could be elsewhere?**

 _Don't patronize me_ , Demon thought, answering the voice with dull venom.

 **We do not patronize, only state what we see and will see. You choose to see the problem, live it, yet do nothing to fix it.**

 _I do not understand, you stupid echo! The problem is her! How do you defeat that "little" threat!?_

A bitter laugh emerged from the voices, **You are focusing on the problem therefore you cannot see the solution...but we can. Never focus on the problem. See what no one else sees and play the role of the prey once more to fool those who rely solely on the sight in front of them. The answer is much closer than you think.**

 _I...I see now. To whom am I speaking to?_

His consciousness suddenly gleamed white before the upper half of a being composed of pure light appeared. Its face expressionless but its voices suggested otherwise.

 _Primus?_ If his subconscious could, Demon would swallow hard in fear but also in awe.

 **Now you see us but do you see the answer yet?**

Demon gave no reply as the being called Primus expanded its angelic wings before his vision grew bright once more.

* * *

Eyes instantly opened back to a smoke-filled sky though still blurring only slightly. Her footsteps were gaining still but from what seemed to be at least fifteen minutes, she was one fourth a mile away and continuing to charge.

He cringed as he turned himself onto his stomach and observed what was around him once again. More deceased littered the field floor. No blade of grass was green, only light and dark blue as some blood ran fresh while others' were old and crisp in the soil. Among the bodies, several weapons lie, one of which a sword half buried in the ground handle up.

When he looked back, she was too close for comfort. She ran less than five hundred feet away. In fear, he scurried towards the fallen sword as his sister approached. As his hand grasped the blade's grip, he saw her shadow shoot up for a pounce, claws ready to shred his back to slivers. Just as she had swung the sword towards him minutes earlier, he ripped the weapon from the ground and immediately turned onto his back once more with his hand trying desperately to raise the blade in time. She landed on him with a force that could kill smaller mechs.

A sickening yelp emitted from the trapped brother. All Demon could hear now was a sinister laugh from his sibling. She moved again with one more chuckle and strained another cry from the pinned techno-organic dragon before leaning to the right and toppling with a broken blade embedded in her upper torso. Then, agonizing silence.

Demon breathed heavily as the pressure of the sword's handle in his side lifted. He could tell the bottom part of the grip had ruptured through his protoform when his sister impaled herself on the weapon. That's what he deserved for holding it wrong...but he was alive. Slowly he got up, barely ignoring the striving pain in his mid-section and the previous wounds that had reopened as well.

He didn't bother looking at his dead sister as he limped several feet to lay the remnants of the sword near its original wielder. He bowed in respect of the dead, knowing his deceased brothers and sisters were smiling down at him somewhere.

"Hello? Anybody out there?" Another voice shouted. This time, it was not in his mind but from a far distance near the city.

Strange, the city was crawling with Metal Heads but none seemed to move towards the voice. It was only when a crowd of those abominations fled the opposite direction did he know why. Something was repelling them from the ruins of what was his home. Help was here.

Demon held his side but summoned enough energy to roar towards the voice with an audible stutter at the end. "I'm here!" He cried afterwards. "Please help me!"

His vocals did not go unheard but not only by the voice. Demon suddenly found himself on the ground once more, teeth ripping against his neck cables and the glow of red eyes bearing down upon him. He couldn't summon anything more than a groan as the jaws kept him immobile. Claws replaced teeth as he once again heard that same disgusting laugh, only much darker. He could feel the other half of the blade he had returned to the owner cut into his body when the other leaned against him, putting more pressure on his back and sides. Apparently, the sword had missed the spark.

"You little fool!" She spat, blood seeping from her mouth onto his armor. "I'm done playing games with you, Brother! Now you'll join our family in the Well whether you like it or not. Consider that my only generosity!"

He felt her loosen slightly as she pulled her free hand up for the killing blow, talons ready to strike. As soon as she went down, a blast exploded between them which seemingly stopped her assault. She also accidentally released him. Too weak to do anything but turn on his back, he saw that her servo was taken clean off and the wiring beneath it (or what remained) was ablaze. Both he and his sister peered towards the source of the interruption.

A mech like Demon, only smaller and containing blue stripes instead of red, stood before the two siblings, arm gun powered up. "Get away from my brother, you monster!"

His sister looked a bit taken back before she scowled, "You still stand on Kanjis' soil, Phantasmos, and here I thought you were easily destroyed several hours ago."

"Still as arrogant as ever, I see. Tell me, do you think that missing hand of yours would make a good trophy for Lockdown to collect or even better, buy?" Phantasmos smirked.

"Watch your tongue, boy," she hissed.

The younger mech snorted, "Why? I learned it from you!"

Phantasmos backed away slightly when his former sister took a few steps forward, giving Demon the ability to breathe again. He resisted looking at Demon as the latter got back on his feet quietly, hoping his larger sibling wouldn't catch on.

The tiger-dragon reared, towering over her little brother with her spinal spikes raised to capacity before yelping at unexpected pain in her tail. Whipping her helm around, her face collided with a fist at too high of a speed, shattering her lower jaw and throwing several teeth in multiple directions. She stumbled back, holding the now limp and severed jaw in her hand. It hung loosely but still attached to her faceplates, one joint ripped from its socket making her seem like she's gawking permanently.

She tried to speak but blood only gushed from the slightly torn throat which was the result of the jaw stripping part of her neck cables when it thrashed in the opposite direction violently. Furious, she grabbed ahold of Demon's left arm and used her feet to gain counterweight by pressing him the opposite way as she pulled his limb clean off. As soon as the arm was no longer attached to him, she swung it around to hit his left temple. Demon went down once more.

As she attempted to crush his head underfoot, Phantasmos shot her again in the back, breaking several spikes and damaging one of the panels that released her wings. Using the distraction to his advantage, Demon caught her with his remaining hand and pulled her off balance. She toppled on her spine beside him before he straddled her in an effort to keep her from gaining any more ground than she already had.

Her claws sank in his shoulders as she tried to push him off but his weight proved just enough to prevent her from moving. Instantly Demon used his only fist to pound her head into the dirt, drawing more blood from her, but she was still alive. Noticing this, he sank two claws into her eyes, blinding her but still not subduing.

"You want pain, sister!? I'll give you all the pain you want! Eat that until you choke on your own ichor, you sick abomination!"

Trying desperately to get free, his sister struggled violently with mixed emotions until the blade shard embedded in her chest was snagged out with an unbearable force. As a result, Demon was stunned unexpectedly as she nailed him straight in the nose with a rogue punch, giving her enough leadway to kick him off. Quickly she stood at her full height, shaking her head madly like a raging bull and splattering the blood pouring from her eye sockets everywhere before she immediately stopped and roared into the open air.

Demon knew more than anything that despite not being able to see, she could damn well smell and hear. He observed how she pawed the stained grass before leaning her nostrils towards it as her ears twitched in different directions each second. She looked even more animalistic than ever before, and Demon had to admit it was scary.

His feet unsteadily knocked a few rocks over which made his sister's mutilated head shoot up with a snarl but before she could charge, another sound alerted her. Phantasmos accidentally tripped over a dead body, resulting in a small grunt that sounded childish. Fear set in Demon when his sibling knew exactly where his little brother was. Suddenly, she charged.

To Phantasmos, his sister truly looked like a beast, an abomination to nature. A walking (running) corpse. Phantasmos tried to kick loose from the body's remains but found his foot stuck, and he was still in the path of the oncoming monster. Panic began taking over his thoughts as the vision of razor sharp teeth soon filled his line of sight. Eyes widened in horror but the cry of his older brother awoke him from his trance.

Demon stepped in front of his sister with the partial blade once more ready to impale the protoform but this time, he knew where to hit and he refused to miss. Shoving the broken sword forward and he could hear its impact through his sister's neck, freezing her on the spot. Her chassis twitched as her neck cables strained against the intrusion. He could see her severed eyes bearing down on him, hopefully for the last time.

"This is the final day you have lived. No longer will you harm anybody on Kanjis or Earth and your Metal Heads will perish without their leader. Perhaps someday, I'll see you in the Pit! Oh, and tell the Chaos Bringer, Unicron, I send him my regards," Demon's voice cracked, a wicked smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. "Goodbye...Tigressa."

She tried to roar but like her voice before, nothing emitted from her now destroyed vocals. With an immediate jerk of Demon's only servo, the blade slid through her throat and her head fell to the dirt below. Her body quickly staggered back, trying to maintain balance. Creepily, it tried to move forward but being separated from its main internal network made it shake and slowly lose control before its feet gave out. It fell forward on its knees then as soon as its spark faded to oblivion, its torso followed. Its tail shuddered before all its bio lights turned black and the armor turned a darker shade of orange; simply, she was dead.

It was over.

The silence was unbearable for a good couple minutes. Demon sat on his calves panting as he seemed out of breath. Then he laughed. Phantasmos shot him a funny look as he just cackled his lungs out.

"If you're going insane, don't bring me into these adventures anymore."

His brother wheezed awkwardly, "We did it. We actually did it! Phantasmos, we just killed Tigressa! We fixed our family's honor; we just saved the entire galaxy! That's something you have to be proud of!"

Phantasmos raised a brow, "Of course, as soon as we repair our injuries, drive the remaining Metal Heads off both Earth and Kanjis, and you know, bury and honor all these fallen soldiers. Then I'll be proud but until then, I'm more concerned about how we're going to survive with ourselves in this destruction we've helped cause. Worlds have died because we let Tigressa do this! She was one of us at one point, remember?"

Demon no longer mused on his victory. His little brother was right. But at least his guilt was his own dilemma, not the galaxy's. He wondered, if by one small chance, Primus had already forgiven him. But that didn't matter now. It was time for him to restart, for Kanjis to restart, and he was to be their new leader. He had a second chance and he would make his father and mother proud.

"Yeah, well, first things first. I think we should actually get to a safe haven and get repairs before we try any of those things. I don't think one arm's going to get me far," he sighed.

Phantasmos simply nodded and lay back on the grass in exhaustion.

* * *

 _Two years later..._

The stars above never appeared gentler towards him then now. Shivers of disgust and agony used to flare through the sight as if they shunned him. But as he peered up again, a feeling arose within him, not of hate or repugnance, but of forgiveness and what seemed to be thought. That was something he didn't mind at all.

Below the guiding stars, the cities across the globe of Kanjis were restored or on the point of being. Every Metal Head driven off world and families brought back together once more. New generations of sparklings were born within the first year in accordance to the final victory of the war. What a time to be alive, and most worlds usually never get the chance to start anew like this.

The spectacle of the sight would have Primus weeping with joy.

He breathed in heavily as the crown was lowered onto his helm, a symbol of restoration and honor. Though it took them awhile to trust him again, he gladly accepted their praise with dignity he had once lost.

"...And thus I dub thee King Demon Kronos, the light within a dark world. You've shown promise, young one, but even that may hinder you in the challenges that lie ahead. But we are sure you will prevail. We are nevertheless grateful for your sacrifice and redemption upon the things you have done."

"Thank you, Lyrancor," Demon whispered.

The High Vizier bowed before letting the former traitor up to finally proclaim his new title to the world. Now there stood, in a fallen warrior's place, a king.

People cheered throughout the full field, now cleansed from the bodies of the deceased and the corpses of the abominations. Blood no longer colored the grass, and the tainted chassis of Tigressa was nowhere to be seen by fearful eyes.

Families of the fallen were everywhere, shouting and happily chanting "King Kronos! King Kronos!" Air-based techno-organics did tricks to show their glee while grounders like the rogue black-horned bulls head-butted and pranced around each other in celebration. It was a wonder to see everyone with smiling faces once again.

Phantasmos grasped Demon's hand as he stood there, frozen from the feedback he was receiving. His repaired left hand was suddenly taken into La Luna's, Phantasmos' girlfriend. He shook himself out of the trance and smiled down at both younglings, clutching both of their servos confidently in return.

His brothers, sisters, mother, and father would be proud, as he would be with them if they were there with him. Phantasmos was the only surviving member of his family with him and that was enough to give him the motivation to continue on.

A new dawn had risen to cleanse Kanjis of its past shadows that once plagued the planet. Everyone turned to watch the blue and yellow binary suns climb the horizon in unison. The massive lapis one signified faith, wisdom, and truth while the smaller golden-orange star symbolized love, compassion, and courage; all of which were factors that helped them survive the war that was. Together, they formed life. For as long as there was light, anything could thrive.

A faint laugh echoed throughout the sky's lights as a one star glittered brighter than all the others in response. A symbol of hope.

* * *

Half buried within the ground, red eyes pulsed from low to high and dimmed repeatedly. Behind it, a broken arm, suspended by vines, with a barely attached hand twitched. And to think, there was more than meets the eye when dealing with or being among the Gods.

* * *

 **AN: This is the story I had to write for one of my classes...AND I GOT A GREAT GRADE FOR IT TOO! If you didn't notice, I added a quote from Patch Adams.**


End file.
